


Interactive

by pxncey



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, First Order Poe Dameron, M/M, Pre-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Unresolved Sexual Tension, but it ends on a hopeful note
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-13
Updated: 2018-06-13
Packaged: 2019-05-17 23:40:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14841423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pxncey/pseuds/pxncey
Summary: Scrambling to regain control of the deteriorating situation, Hux resorts to the simplest weapon in his arsenal: threats. "I could have you demoted, you know," he blurts at Dameron, striving to keep his voice even. "I could have you killed."Poe tilts his chin. That tiny smile still does not leave his face. "Yeah, but are you gonna?"





	Interactive

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ratsnoot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ratsnoot/gifts).



> I wrote this fic for my girlfriend, but we thought the internet might appreciate it too.

General Hux stares at Captain Canady with disdain. "What exactly is the problem?" Hux asks, trying to keep the bite from his voice. The two of them are sat at the meeting table with several other officers, caught in a disagreement. "Our holosystems are perfect. Our training methods have never proved more airtight."

"What can I say?" Canady asks. "The figures show a dip in efficiency."

Hux is even further offended by this. His brow furrows and he parts his lips, about to argue _'In which area?'_ , but a new voice interrupts him:

"Perhaps it's you?"

Slowly, Hux turns to the source of the mutinous voice. The officer three seats to his left, Lieutenant Poe Dameron, is looking at him expectantly.

A sense of dread creeps into Hux’s mind. Hux has watched Dameron confidently query others' orders and methods in the past, and revelled in the victims' humiliation, never expecting that he, with his immaculate efficiency and intelligence, would ever be a target. He feels an unpleasant sensation in his chest at the knowledge that soon, he too will join the shamed masses of high ranking officers caught out by Dameron's unfortunately sharp wit.

The lieutenant sits far too comfortably in his hard chair. With his easy-set jaw and lax shoulders, his stance is a stark contrast to the officers surrounding him. When he speaks again, there is little authority in his voice, yet something, some secret element still compels one to pause and listen to what he is saying. "Your leadership style is pretty hands-off," he shrugs.

All of Hux's muscles tense defensively. "What are you implying?"

"I'm just saying, General," Dameron continues, "That maybe if you interacted with your technicians and soldiers a little more, they'd be more loyal. You know, they'd actually want to work for you."

Canady raises his eyebrows at the lieutenant. "You'd have a general confined to the pits?"

Dameron cocks his head meaningfully, and shrugs.

"Well," Canady says. He glances at Hux. "If it's him, I can't say I'd disagree.”

"How dare you?" Hux says in a hiss. "I am the highest ranking officer at this table. Don't you speak about me as if I'm some dunce that ought to be kept away from the controls.”

Canady frowns minutely, and his nose twitches, as if he has just smelled something unpleasant. _‘That’s what you are,’_ he clearly wants to say.

Hux almost chuckles. He knows Canady has long been hungry for his position, jealous that a man so much younger than him rose above him with such ease. “My efforts have led this order to recognition,” Hux continues. He glares at Canady, then Dameron, and his fingers thrum with anger. “You’ve contributed nothing of value to our mission.” He’s unsure which of the two of them his spitefulness is directed at, only sure that he means it.

Canady’s wrinkled features contort under the assumption that he is the intended recipient of Hux’s words.

However, at this point, Dameron looks almost impressed by Hux’s vigour. He cocks his head again, his hat tipping forward slightly. He begins to speak, and Hux finds that he is quite keenly anticipating the man’s words—but before he can articulate his statement, he is interrupted by Canady. “What _lies,”_ Canady growls, voice low. “I’ve been a servant of the empire since you could barely walk!”

Colonel Datoo quickly interjects, barring Hux from fighting back: "I think perhaps we ought to end this meeting.”

Hux frowns at him. How dare he interrupt such an urgent feud.

Datoo looks between Canady and Hux unsubtly. “We can reconvene once everyone has had a chance to clear their minds."

Reluctantly, the room begins to empty, each officer walking out behind the last. Hux stares at Canady as they both rise from their seats, and Canady shoots him a look when he notices Hux’s eyes on him.

Hux despises him. Canady seems to return the sentiment.

It’s only when the room is empty and Hux is about to walk through the door that he notices that Dameron is still in his seat. And he’s watching Hux. Hux narrows his eyes at him. “Yes?”

Dameron doesn’t say anything. He waits a moment or so, looking at Hux thoughtfully, then breaks eye contact, and finally stands up and moves to leave.

But Hux steps into his path, frustrated by his inexplicable behaviour. “What is your problem?" Hux asks.

That earns an indifferent-sounding sigh from Dameron—but his face tells a different story, looking almost amused. “I just think you ought to be more interactive, is all."

Hux takes a step closer, intending to intimidate Dameron, wondering how close he will be able to get without Dameron stepping back in fear, but the man doesn't even flinch. His boots stay glued in place on the glistening black floor, a shoulders' width apart, distributing his weight evenly. There is a look in his eye that infuriates Hux: as if he knows a secret Hux doesn't. It makes something curl in Hux's stomach.

Dameron turns away briefly, glancing at the doorway. The door has slid shut behind the last of the other officers. He comes back to face Hux again, and Hux sneers at him. Dameron returns the sentiment with a tiny smirk.

Up this close it's impossible not to notice what an admirable face Dameron has, and his lopsided smile only enhances his beauty. Hux flinches and pushes the useless judgement aside, suddenly anxious that Dameron will have caught his train of thought.

There is a space between the two of them where the air is thick and hot and different to the rest of the room. Hux isn’t sure what is happening. Without warning, Dameron breaches the gap between them, invading Hux’s space. His intentions are clearly past intimidation at this point.

He grasps the back of Hux's collar and pulls his body towards him, somehow roughly and precisely at the same time, and then his lips are touching Hux's. Hux’s body jolts, but he doesn’t step back, too surprised to respond in any way. Dameron’s mouth is soft and warm, and feels startlingly pleasant when it drags against Hux’s. His rough stubble brushes Hux's face, and Hux’s stomach lurches. That's _non-regulation,_ he thinks weakly.

He wants to tear himself away and backhand Dameron, but he cannot bear to move. The heat of another person is a luxury he has not experienced—perhaps, he has not permitted himself to experience—in a long while, and the lure of it is unignorable. Briefly, very briefly, Hux wants to kiss back. He considers it.

But once several seconds have passed, Dameron ends the kiss the way he started it: abruptly and with a look in his eye that rather makes Hux want to punch him.

They are still too close for it to be proper, but a little perverted part of Hux resents the fact that there is any distance between them at all.

He gathers his wits enough to speak. "You realise," he says, and tries to mask the breathiness of his voice, "That doing that could just make me angrier."

"Sure," Dameron says. His lips are parted. "But did it?"

Hux glares at him, trying to decide. Of course he's angrier now. But that doesn't preclude the fact that he... may not have found that encounter utterly repulsive.

He has been rather severely deprived of contact and entertainment for the past few years. The flush on his skin and the lightness to his heartbeat is a small piece of excitement he’s not sure he wants to let go of, if he has the opportunity to keep it.

But he is too out of his element to fully make sense of things. He cannot reach a solid conclusion.

Dameron is still watching him, in something part-way between anticipation and amusement. Scrambling to regain control of the situation, Hux resorts to the simplest weapon in his arsenal: threats. "I could have you demoted, you know," he blurts at Dameron, striving to keep his voice even. "I could have you killed."

Poe tilts his chin. That tiny smile still does not leave his face. "Yeah, but are you gonna?"

A muscle in Hux's jaw slips. Nobody has ever spoken to him in such an insubordinate way. Too startled to muster an appropriate air of superiority, he splutters out, _"Maybe."_

Poe seems to see right through him, as if his mind is just a screen of glass. He winks at Hux. "I'll see you around," he says. Then he walks out, the door whooshing open, and then shut after him.

Flabbergasted, Hux stares at the doorway. He stands there for what could be minutes before he can collect himself enough to exit and face his inferiors.

It’s naive, but he presumes that once he leaves, all of his weakness and flusteredness will be left in the meeting room behind him.

It is not. So he stalks over to the bridge to steady himself, looking down at his small empire, at each uniformed underling seated at their holo screens, tapping away. He has control over all of this. It is his. Calm washes over him, and his heart rate levels out.

A noise disturbs his reverie. His communicator alerts him to a summon: he is due in Snoke’s audience room, immediately. Briskly, he walks the route, away from the safety of the bridge and down the corridor, alone.

He catches sight of Dameron just as the man is disappearing through an opening at the end of the hall. The door rushes to meet the ground after him, shutting him away from Hux.

Hux’s heart does not waver. He does not think about how much he’s looking forward to _seeing him around._

He does not.

**Author's Note:**

> the excellent featured art for this fic can be found here:
> 
> https://ratsnoot.tumblr.com/post/174547329862


End file.
